He focusses on a different political geneology to that which I sometimes reflect upon. It is startling though that the Muslim Nation States have developed in the way that they have. Ummahtic overstretch, Violent communal conflict, Souring relations with India, Electoral ugliness, Political mistrust and self love, War in which so many of its people were killed by those charged to guard them, Capitulation to great power games, Total destruction of nobility and of course my favourite, Forgetfulness of collective purpose.
Unity, Faith and Discipline were his catchwords, not one of which has been honoured in either spirit or deed. This country, barring its politicians, is disunited as never before. Faith is split between the various vitriolic schools of thought and has but provoked intolerance, bigotry and violence, and as for discipline it is nowhere to be found.
But then that is a negative view, inshAllah the best days are to come. There have been many many ace scholars and institutional innovations, even if these have generally been products of the prepartition phase, when the Millat had a better impression of who is was.
Partition split many of the traditionalists and modernists. It ironically situated the Muslims away from their institutions of higher learning and included the Old Empire's military recruitment center. The South Asian Muslim inteligensia has never recovered. South West Asian Muslim soldiery has had a boom time. Satan is probably laughing his arse off. He probably laughed especially hard when the Muslim Nation state became two in that way.
I read products from Alighar dissing partition aloofly and coughing up Congress platitudes, I hear superficial anti Indianism from the western armpit and I know that forgetfulness and national parochiality is even deeper in the eastern one. ( I hope it has a silver lining somewhere).
So we didnt translate our values... and have warped national mythologies that empower the most capitive political elites through; the consent of middleclasses battling for social position and regular people battling to fill their stomachs. The 'nobility' are busy at some party sniffing eachother's arses, that is they have no character and dont care.
Zia Sardar made an intelligent quip at the recent Tehelka Summit in London, I think it is broadening of the historical imagination,
"Civilisational India is mine, you can keep your nation state"
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